Walk reel mowers are known for the precision cutting of grass to very low heights of cut. Such mowers are most commonly used for cutting the grass on the greens of golf courses and thus are typically referred to as greensmowers. The mower includes a reel cutting unit having a rotatable reel that sweeps the grass against a sharpened bedknife for cutting the grass between the blades of the reel and the bedknife. The mower is self-propelled by a power source carried on the mower which is operatively connected to a rotatable, ground engaging traction drum carried on the mower.
The walk reel mower described above includes a generally U-shaped handle assembly that extends upwardly and rearwardly therefrom to allow an operator who walks on the ground behind the mower to guide and manipulate the mower. The top of the handle assembly includes a transverse cross member that forms a hand grip which the operator grips with his or her hands to hold onto the handle assembly. A control panel is located adjacent the cross member extending across the width of the handle assembly by spanning the distance between the laterally spaced left and right handle tubes that are part of the handle assembly. The control panel is used to mount various controls that are manipulated by the operator during operation of the walk reel mower.
One such control mounted on the control panel is a pivotal throttle lever for varying the power output of the power source carried on the mower. Since that power source is often an internal combustion engine, the throttle lever is typically linked by a Bowden cable to a pivotal throttle on the engine. The throttle lever pivots about a laterally extending horizontal axis on the control panel to move in a longitudinal fore-and-aft plane. When the operator pushes the throttle lever forwardly, the Bowden cable moves in a first direction to advance the throttle control on the engine to increase the speed of the engine. Conversely, when the operator pushes the throttle lever rearwardly, the Bowden cable moves in a second opposite direction to retard the throttle control on the engine to decrease the speed of the engine.
To be easily accessible to the operator, the throttle lever usually sticks up a few inches above the control panel and has a knob on its upper end to facilitate gripping by the operator. However, there are many other controls carried on the control panel as well. These controls include controls for engaging the traction drum to cause movement of the mower over the ground and for engaging operation of the rotatable reel to begin mowing. In addition, various pivotal operator presence control type bails may be used that need to be squeezed shut against the hand grip to maintain the operation of the traction drum and the reel. If the operator releases these bails such that the bails pivot away from the hand grip, the operation of the traction drum and the reel will be automatically halted as a safety measure.
Accordingly, fitting a pivotal throttle lever onto the control panel is often a challenge for the mower designer. Moreover, being able to grip and pivot the throttle lever to advance or retard the engine speed typically requires the user to remove one hand from the hand grip of the handle assembly. This at least temporarily decreases the hold the operator has on the handle assembly thereby potentially impairing the steering control the operator is able to exert on the mower using the handle assembly. Accordingly, an improved throttle control that would be more compact and out of the way on the control panel and that could be moved by the operator without having to release any part of the operator's grip on the handle assembly would be an improvement in the mower art.